


Graduation

by Milana16



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Future-fic, Gen, I'm Sorry, Kaidoh doesn't get any lines, Kinda, M/M, also, now enjoy your fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 23:28:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7128338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milana16/pseuds/Milana16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They graduated from many things. Their relationship was not one of them. Somehow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Graduation

**Author's Note:**

> All the characters are the property of Konomi Takeshi. I'm just showering them with unnecessary fluff (or necessary, considering NewPoT- STOP BULLYING OISHI, WORLD).

They graduated from middle school.

Ryuzaki-sensei went further than any club advisor thanking their third year members, making a set of new regulars enter the graduating ceremony with their jerseys on and another ones swung through their arms, and Singles One for Singles one, Doubles One for Doubles One, give the returned jerseys to old regulars as a memo of their glory, along with a promise to protect the title third years had won for them.  
Said third years, in a show of a synchro supposedly achieved by only two of them, protested that they weren’t the only ones fighting for it. The new captain and vice-captain, tuned into third years synchro, got ready to protest, and who knows how long it could get, if not for a sudden order of Ryuzaki for the regulars to line up, and identical reaction it brought to both graduating members as well as new regulars. This brought a wave of laughter to the otherwise stiff ceremony, and the atmosphere loosened, as the third years bowed for the last time to thank their friends and classmates for supporting them in their matches.

 

When it was their time to receive their jerseys, they stopped mid-movement only to cross their hands and reach for a jersey offered to their partner. A show of inside nametag proved they really reached for their own jersey, mixed up just before ceremony. It turned out much later, on the graduates send-off at Taka’s restaurant, that neither of them recognized their jersey- but they could identify their partner’s in just about any circumstances. It was, after all, the jersey they always looked at. Not that they used this reason at the party. Said event wasn’t sad, even if they knew what most other regulars didn’t-that Seigaku’s Golden Pair won’t continue in High School, what with Oishi parting ways to get into a high school with classes profiled for future medicine students. Eiji would remain behind in Seigaku’s High, but that was okay, they both accepted it, both the fact they’d get lonelier than they were and that even though apart for most of the time they used to be stuck at the hip, they still would have each other.

They graduated their respective High schools.

Eiji’s ceremony started earlier than Oishi’s, but even so, he barely waited for the official sports scholarships to be announced and the diplomas to be given out, before he bolted, most of his friends not even trying to stop him, shaking their heads in amused exhasperation, their photos with him taken a day earlier for that exact occasion.  
He made it barely in time, almost out of breath, but still in time, somehow slipping through the teachers watchful stare despite his different uniform-or maybe they just turned blind eye on him; he wasn’t completely foreign to them, after all. The point was, he made it to the auditorium and by the time announcements of the top students started, he was able to cheer louder than anyone else as Oishi’s name got called out, trying to at least minimally make up for the absence of any family members, what with Oishi’s father working and his mother going to his little sister’s graduation.  
Judging from the warm smile that spread on Oishi’s face after he- somehow- caught Eiji’s eyes in the crowd, his efforts got noticed and appreciated.  
After the ceremony Eiji waited only long enough to let Oishi’s own friends to congratulate him and take their pictures, but when Oishi finally turned to him and with a small smile asked.

‘Tennis?’

Eiji could only grin back at him and loop his arms around his shoulders, nodding vigorously and adding his own proposition.

‘And ice creams afterwards!’

Oishi laughed, but it was a tradition almost set in a stone, and somehow, Eiji knew that this one Oishi really liked. It was just how they always ended up.  
Somehow, this time they also ended up at Taka’s restaurant with most of the other former Regulars.

They graduated from the same university.

Eiji was elated that they were going to the same school again. Even if their divisions differed, even If most of their classes weren’t the same, they were students from the same facility, and it meant a lot of things that could be made together again. They needed a month or two to polish their cooperation back to their middle-school level, but eventually they were back to being Golden Pair, present in almost every aspect of their life, from living in the same dormroom, through almost automatically cooking for two instead of one, to reading other’s mind while not even talking. By the time their graduation rolled around, their nickname changed to inter-division couple, and even as Eiji got almost instantly sweeped by the company managing stuntmen’s world and Oishi got accepted for practices into the same hospital as his uncle worked at, people foretold them a future filled with each other.

Old regulars laughed at the prophecies spoken like some astonishing news.

‘You can tell us openly, you know.’ Fuji spoke up suddenly at one of their reunion parties, directing his words to Eiji. When redhead blinked at him in confusion above the unago, genius only smiled. ‘It’s not like we’d mind, even if it wasn’t obvious to us. But if it’s going to eat you up, you should just tell us.’

‘F-Fuji, what in the-‘

‘He’s right, you know.’ Inui interrupted stuttering Oishi, as Eiji seemed to try and blend into perfectly white wall with his face complexion. ‘Even close friends restrict their closeness around this age for about 10%, and yours grew instead, although only with us or your family around; not that it isn’t flattering being considered an audience safe enough for showing your true emotions-‘

‘But since it seems to eat at you, we decided to prod you to get it out in the open.’ Taka interrupted, putting another plate of sushi in the middle of the regulars table. ‘Although we might have been too straightforward with it. Sorry.’

‘A little?’ Eiji’s voice hitched, but before he could continue, a flat voice called out.

‘And I have no idea what are you talking about, senpai.’  
Former no.1 Double looked at their youngest member. Contrary to Fuji, Echizen finally got hit by growth spurt, and although he still was one of the shorter Regulars, he was no longer a complete shorty, with his hair rebelliously grown out just enough to be tied into small ponytail much like Fuji’s hair. The tennis prodigy took this trip specifically for their reunion, just as his now biggest rival in a professional circuit, Tezuka, using one of the rare free weeks every sportsmen had now and then.

‘There’s no need to spill it out now, if you not feel ready.’ Fuji assured the doubles pair, smiling just a little more when grumpy protests in English reached his ears. Echizen developed a habit of speaking in his other language as a show of annoyment… ‘We’ve waited pretty long, we can wait a little more.’  
Too shocked to answer, Oishi looked over to his partner for over ten years by now… and shook his head. Eiji, understanding him perfectly, sighed and whined.

‘And here I wanted to make it dramatical!’

‘You can still do it, considering the fact Echizen doesn’t seem to get what’s going on.’

‘Whose fault i-?’ grumbled a voice in English, stopping only as its owner stared at the sight of his redheaded-and, currently, redfaced- senpai leaning to the side to kiss his just as red former doubles partner in a way that was hard to describe as friendly. ‘Oh. You meant that. And I thought it was something strange.’

‘You suggest for you this isn’t-‘ started Momo, when Inui interrupted him.

‘In America, homosexual affairs are more openly talked about than in Japan.’

‘Considering level of gay productions done in Japan, that is strange.’ Echizen said, prompting those few Regulars that tried to have a normal drink to spit it out. ‘What? That’s the first thing fangirls ask about after getting to know I spend half my life in Japan.’

Eiji cracked up.

‘Poor Ochibi! Oishi, we might have traumatized him!’

‘It’s rather those fangirls.’ Consciously noted Tezuka, bravely fighting back his headache. It wasn’t that he didn’t notice the warmth between his best friend and his doubles partner, but to be shown that… Kikumaru definitely achieved the dramatic announcement effect. Well, considering the fact Tezuka’s headaches started also whenever Kaidoh and Momo started a fight, or Fuji did…well, anything, having your closest male friends kiss each other didn’t brought up too much of a negative reaction from him. More like, just a reaction.

Meanwhile, younger pro nodded vigorously.

‘I’d also rather spend my life with somebody who can play tennis and doesn’t have annoying voice.’ Echizen confessed. ‘Senpai-tachi just chose the better option, I guess.’

‘Well, the only one who’d fit your demands I can see right now would be Tezuka, Echizen.’ Mused Fuji, prompting Kaidoh (who mistakenly decided situation settled down enough to drink) to choke, Inui to pull out a very old-looking notebook out, and Taka-san to sigh.

‘Here we go again. What I told you about pairing everyone together, Fujiko…’

‘But I was right with Eiji and Oishi, wasn’t I?’

‘Well, it wasn’t hard. Ah! Sorry, you two, it’s not like your relationship is open or anything like that…’  
Taka was talking some more, but Eiji and Oishi has already lost it, too relieved to be so easily accepted out of their closet not to laugh. Other Regulars stopped Taka’s worried blabbering and the fest soon resumed with pretty much no change, except for the now openly joined hands of the medicine student and beginner stuntman, freshly graduated from both university and hidden relationship status. Not that it looked any different to other young adults around them.

It wasn’t like Oishi and Eiji ever graduated from being the Golden Pair.


End file.
